Hi
Have a look at my blog article on this. I think you will find it useful. It is at https://www.advancedenglishlearning.com ... vocabulary. This article will help you move from memorising to using and remembering!
Best wishes with your studies
Dr Norman

Learn vocabulary in context. Context here means other text surrounding that word. Learning vocabulary in the context it has been used helps you to understand its meaning better and also gives you an idea where to use such a word.

Learn synonyms of the new word. Synonyms are words and phrases with similar meaning. Some online dictionaries usually list synonyms of the entry word. Or, get yourself a thesaurus (dictionary for synonyms and antonyms).

Use any new word/s you have learned. If you are shy of using big words then use its synonym. If one of its synonyms is a phrasal verb, use that. Phrasal verbs are very common in spoken language and often a phrasal verb has different meaning in different context. Context here means situation. E.g., pick up: if I say ‘he was picked up by police last night’ I mean he was arrested; if I say ‘I picked up a few Italian words while I was on holiday there’ means I learned a few Italian words…..

When you come across a new word in a sentence, look up the definition of that word in dictionary and also its synonyms. Then, practice writing the sentence in your own words. You are likely to always remember the meaning of that word and where you first learned it.